Sacrificing_for_the_American_Dream

Josie Thurston Carrin Blyth English 51 August 26, 2013 Sacrificing for the American Dream Everyone knows somebody with a Type A personality. What do you interpret “The American Dream” to mean, and what are you willing to sacrifice to achieve that goal' In Ellen Goodman’s story, “The Company Man” she portrays a very grim look at what a Type A personality would sacrifice to achieve “The American Dream”. I agree with Goodman that enjoying your life and the people in it are more important than climbing the corporate ladder. Too often nowadays people have lost all sense of values and what should matter most. Goodman explains of Helen, “she had, according to her daughter, given up trying to compete with his work years ago” (452). Some people feel as long as you never have an affair on your spouse than your loyal to them, but there’s more to being loyal then just a monogamist relationship. Phil never once put his family or how they felt before his job. I couldn’t imagine my spouse disregarding my pain all in an effort to achieve “The American Dream” Phil cared more about becoming president than he did his own health or having any kind of life outside of his corporate walls. One way that Goodman describes Phil’s boring predictability is that “He always ate egg salad sandwiches at his desk”, and how “On Saturdays Phil wore a sports jacket to the office instead of a suit, because it was the weekend (452). According to research, Type A people on a whole have a shorter life span than those who are not. They are also more susceptible to issues such as Hypertension and Heart Disease according to About.com and backed by the Medical Review Board. Goodman describes how Phil went from becoming a father and husband to a shell of a man whom they seldom saw and barely knew. Goodman states, “In the day and a half before the funeral the eldest son went around the neighborhood researching his father, asking the neighbors what he was like. They were embarrassed” (452). One might wonder if any of that had any affect at all on his eldest son who himself, was following in his father’s footsteps. Was the cycle to continue in this family or has the eldest son came to realize he could be next.